How to "annotate" First Aid for Step 1 ??

[yodi]

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I've got a brand-spanking new, shiny unmarked 2004 First Aid for Step 1, and I'm sitting here trying to decide how I want to "annotate" it for the next 2 years so that it will become a high-yield review tool for step 1.

Would this entail:

1) connecting/reorganizing material already in the book
2) adding details from class to material already in the book
3) adding important concepts from class NOT in the book
4) A combination of the above
5) anything else?


And will this differ depending on the topic? (eg, would annotating Path require a different approach than, say, annotating Pharm?)

Appreciate any advice out there...thanks!

-yodi

 

[lattimer13]

shoulda waited for the new 2005 edition in december. oh well, probably not that much difference anyways.

 

[Su4n2]

i have the same question. we are doing repiratory now, there are only 2 pages in FA on resp path but like 30 in BRS/Goljan. i am not sure what it is i am supposed to annotate, and starting to think that this process might be a waste of time.

 

[TweetyPie]

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[Cristagali]

i haven't gotten my Step 1 scores back yet, but by the time I took the test, my FA looked like chicken scratch. I couldn't really study it because I had microscopically filled every spare space in it. I would suggest keeping a notebook on the side and match it page for page with the FA. and DON"T hi-light anything because every single word in FA is important and it will only distract you when you go back for your 2nd or third reading. I missed a lot of easy questions on my exam, that were in the FA, but I just missed "seeing" them because of all the notes I had put in. It was just a big blur at the end. IMO... 😎

 

[bigfrank]

Yodi, I replied to your PM.

Basically, everyone develops a system that works for them. My best advice is to only annotate things that you don't know AND things that are truly "board-worthy." The latter piece of advice is something that is hard to recognize for some and easy for others.

And finally, be sure to do things neatly -- I'd rather have 1/4 the material in there if I can read it all as opposed to it being sloppy and unreadable. There isn't much extra room in FA.

I've got a brand-spanking new, shiny unmarked 2004 First Aid for Step 1, and I'm sitting here trying to decide how I want to "annotate" it for the next 2 years so that it will become a high-yield review tool for step 1.

Would this entail:

1) connecting/reorganizing material already in the book
2) adding details from class to material already in the book
3) adding important concepts from class NOT in the book
4) A combination of the above
5) anything else?


And will this differ depending on the topic? (eg, would annotating Path require a different approach than, say, annotating Pharm?)

Appreciate any advice out there...thanks!

-yodi

 

[bigfrank]

i haven't gotten my Step 1 scores back yet, but by the time I took the test, my FA looked like chicken scratch. I couldn't really study it because I had microscopically filled every spare space in it. I would suggest keeping a notebook on the side and match it page for page with the FA. and DON"T hi-light anything because every single word in FA is important and it will only distract you when you go back for your 2nd or third reading. I missed a lot of easy questions on my exam, that were in the FA, but I just missed "seeing" them because of all the notes I had put in. It was just a big blur at the end. IMO... 😎

Excellent points. I highlighted every word in my FA, but I'm a 'highlighter!'

 

[yodi]

Thanks bigfrank and all others who've replied! could you shed some light on what "boards-worthy" means? like maybe diseases that have been hammered in class but not in FA?

 

[bigfrank]

Thanks bigfrank and all others who've replied! could you shed some light on what "boards-worthy" means? like maybe diseases that have been hammered in class but not in FA?

This is the eternal question. I wish I had a formula to give you. After you take board questions, you will begin to make key associations with a certain disease.

Instead of wasting time memorizing every single clinical finding in HF, it may be worth learning all about some obscure causes of heart failure (a patient with pigmented skin and DM may have primary/hereditary hemochromatosis which can cause a restrictive/infiltrative cardiomyopathy which can cause heart failure). It's all about associations. While you learn about hemochromatosis, it may also be high yield to learn about what chromosome is associated with it (#6) and the actual gene (Hfe gene) and how it's treated (chelator therapy). They can ask you many questions about/regarding hereditary hemochromatosis but they will probably NOT ask you "What is the diagnosis?"

See what I mean? It's a whole new way of thinking for some that comes naturally to others.

 

[joshua_msu]

shoulda waited for the new 2005 edition in december. oh well, probably not that much difference anyways.

Is there really a new edition coming out in December?

 

[uclabruins47]

i think it's annually every november. says somwhere in the book actually if i recall correctly

 

[lattimer13]

i think it's annually every november. says somwhere in the book actually if i recall correctly

hmmm. not according to McGraw-Hill's website (mid december):

http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/getbook.php?isbn=0071440674&template=medical

or this one:

http://www.directtextbook.com/prices/0071440674

 

[fourthyearmed]

What I did for both Step 1 and 2, was instead of annotating First Aid throughout the year, was to add facts as I checked my QBank tests. I would add things that weren't in First Aid to the sections that were closest to the subject. For example, if I had a question about a cardiovascular disease that wasn't in First Aid, I would write the QBank facts in the margin in the cardiac section. By doing this it took several hours to check a 50 question test, but then went I went back to review First Aid the week before the test, I had many more high yield facts than just First Aid. I think it worked pretty well.

 

[zeloc]

So it is worth it to wait until December for the new edition? What is generally changed in the new editions?

 

[amiz]

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